第70章

[They broil indiscriminately all substances which they eat.Though they boil water in small quantities in oyster shells for particular purposes,they never conceived it possible until shown by us,to dress meat by this method,having no vessel capable of containing a fish or a bird which would stand fire.Two of them once stole twelve pounds of rice and carried it off.They knew how we cooked it,and by way of putting it in practice they spread the rice on the ground before a fire,and as it grew hot continued to throw water on it.Their ingenuity was however very ill rewarded,for the rice became so mingled with the dirt and sand on which it was laid,that even they could not eat it,and the whole was spoiled.]

Unless summoned away by irresistable necessity,sleep always follows the repast.They would gladly prolong it until the following day;but the canoe wants repair,the fish-gig must be barbed afresh,new lines must be twisted,and new hooks chopped out.they depart to their respective tasks,which end only with the light.

Such is the general life of an Indian.But even he has his hours of relaxation,in seasons of success,when fish abounds.Wanton with plenty,he now meditates an attack upon the chastity of some neighbouring fair one;and watching his opportunity he seizes her and drags her away to complete his purpose.The signal of war is lighted;her lover,her father,her brothers,her tribe,assemble,and vow revenge on the spoiler.He tells his story to his tribe.They judge the case to be a common one and agree to support him.Battle ensues;they discharge their spears at each other,and legs and arms are transpierced.

When the spears are expended the combatants close and every species of violence is practiced.They seize their antagonist and snap like enraged dogs,they wield the sword and club,the bone shatters beneath their fall and they drop the prey of unsparing vengeance.

Too justly,as my observations teach me has Hobbes defined a state of nature to be a state of war.In the method of waging it among these people,one thing should not,however,escape notice.Unlike all other Indians,they never carry on operations in the night,or seek to destroy by ambush and surprise.Their ardent fearless character,seeks fair and open combat only.

But enmity has its moments of pause.Then they assemble to sing and dance.

We always found their songs disagreeable from their monotony.They are numerous,and vary both in measure and time.They have songs of war,of hunting,of fishing,for the rise and set of the sun,for rain,for thunder and for many other occasions.One of these songs,which may be termed a speaking pantomime,recites the courtship between the sexes and is accompanied with acting highly expressive.I once heard and saw Nanbaree and Abaroo perform it.After a few preparatory motions she gently sunk on the ground,as if in a fainting fit.Nanbaree applying his mouth to her ear,began to whisper in it,and baring her bosom,breathed on it several times.At length,the period of the swoon having expired,with returning animation she gradually raised herself.She now began to relate what she had seen in her vision,mentioning several of her countrymen by name,whom we knew to be dead;mixed with other strange incoherent matter,equally new and inexplicable,though all tending to one leading point--the sacrifice of her charms to her lover.

At their dances I have often been present;but I confess myself unable to convey in deion an accurate account of them.Like their songs,they are conceived to represent the progress of the passions and the occupations of life.Full of seeming confusion,yet regular and systematic,their wild gesticulations,and frantic distortions of body are calculated rather to terrify,than delight,a spectator.These dances consist of short parts,or acts,accompanied with frequent vociferations,and a kind of hissing,or whizzing noise.They commonly end with a loud rapid shout,and after a short respite are renewed.While the dance lasts,one of them (usually a person of note and estimation)beats time with a stick on a wooden instrument held in the left hand,accompanying the music with his voice;and the dancers sometimes sing in concert.

I have already mentioned that white is the colour appropriated to the dance,but the style of painting is left to every one's fancy.Some are streaked with waving lines from head to foot;others marked by broad cross-bars,on the breast,back,and thighs,or encircled with spiral lines,or regularly striped like a zebra.Of these ornaments,the face never wants its share,and it is hard to conceive any thing in the shape of humanity more hideous and terrific than they appear to a stranger--seen,perhaps,through the livid gleam of a fire,the eyes surrounded by large white circles,in contrast with the black ground,the hair stuck full of pieces of bone and in the hand a grasped club,which they occasionally brandish with the greatest fierceness and agility.Some dances are performed by men only,some by women only,and in others the sexes mingle.

In one of them I have seen the men drop on their hands and knees and kiss the earth with the greatest fervor,between the kisses looking up to Heaven.They also frequently throw up their arms,exactly in the manner in which the dancers of the Friendly Islands are depicted in one of the plates of Mr.Cook's last voyage.

Courtship here,as in other countries,is generally promoted by this exercise,where every one tries to recommend himself to attention and applause.Dancing not only proves an incentive,but offers an opportunity in its intervals.The first advances are made by the men,who strive to render themselves agreeable to their favourites by presents of fishing-tackle and other articles which they know will prove acceptable.